Erin Costa / CC
Even though it will not change the outcome of the NFC Championship game, the Saints secured a victory on Tuesday night when the NFL owners voted to expand the use of instant replay to include pass interference calls and allow for the review of a non pass interference call. Coach Sean Payton led the charge for the new rule.
“Man there was a lot of hours, lot of time spent by guys on the (competition) committee, by the coaches and it’s great we can arrive at what we think is a good change,” said Payton.
Saints Owner Gayle Benson vowed to make changes to the NFL rulebook after the team felt they were denied a chance at playing for a Super Bowl, because of a non-pass interference call. Payton arrived at the NFL owners meeting earlier this week, lobbying others to allow instant replay look at pass interference calls.
“I think it won’t impact the way we watch a game, I just think there’s two more calls that we are going to work to get right and I think the room felt really good about that,” said Payton.
Coaches can challenge questionable pass interference plays until the last two minutes and then it’s subject to a booth review. Heading into the owners meetings, there was resistance in expanding replay use for penalties, but Payton says after convincing he got majority support for pass interference calls.
“These are fouls that the analysts are able point and say hey these are the most impactful fouls and I think we got it right,” said Payton.
